Two months after he lost a bruising state Assembly race in the East Bay, Democrat Steve Glazer said he was shocked this week to find himself the star of an extensive Web and mail campaign charging he was the victim of a political "smear" by his Democratic opponent in the primary.

Even more shocking: The campaign is funded by an independent expenditure group backed by multimillionaire Republican activist Charles Munger Jr. - who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking Glazer before the June primary.

"I have yet to really understand it myself," Glazer said Tuesday.

"I am not involved in any way with this group," the Orinda city councilman said. "Much of what they say in the mailer and video is true and worth a look, although I am uncomfortable with the entity distributing the information."

Although the campaign never mentions her by name, it appears to be aimed at boosting the November election prospects of Republican Catharine Baker over Tim Sbranti, the Democratic mayor of Dublin who edged out Glazer to finish second in the top-two primary.

The effort is funded by the Spirit of Democracy political action committee, which is chaired by Munger. He did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

Glossy mailer

Glazer isn't the only one who was blindsided by Spirit of Democracy's "Anatomy of a Political Smear" aimed at voters in the 16th Assembly District, which runs through the suburbs of central Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

The group's 16-page, full-size glossy mailer went to district voters this week, billed as a detailed look at "how Sacramento's most powerful special interest" - labor - "punished a Democrat who dared challenge their agenda."

It reprises Glazer's brutal primary race against Sbranti, whom it describes as "chairman of Sacramento's most powerful political interest," the California Teachers Association. Sbranti, a high school teacher, headed the union's political involvement committee until earlier this year.

"It's unheard of - we've never, ever seen anything like it," said Michelle Henry, a spokeswoman for the Sbranti campaign.

Millionaires' money

She said the effort shows how millionaires like Munger "can put any amount of money" into a race to attempt to manipulate it - in this case, making it appear as though Glazer is still campaigning against Sbranti.

"We don't know what he's up to," Henry said of Munger. "But whether or not they're successful is the question."

Steve Maviglio, a Democratic consultant who was on the attack against Glazer during the primary, called the effort "desperate and bizarre. It's very slick. First it was the corporate interests trying to defeat Sbranti - now it's the billionaires."

Munger not mentioned

The mailer and Web campaign never mentions Munger. He is a physicist who is one of eight children of Charles Munger, the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. He is also chairman of the Santa Clara County Republican Party and has donated millions to GOP causes in California over the last decade.

The effort signals that his independent expenditure group is bolstering the campaign of Baker, a Pleasanton attorney who received 33 percent of the vote in the June 3 primary to Sbranti's 29 percent. Glazer came in third with 23 percent.

By law, independent expenditure groups cannot coordinate their efforts with the candidate.

Baker said she learned about the mailer when "I got it myself in my mailbox."

She said she had nothing to do with either the effort or Munger's group, but that "there's some points in there that are definitely valid and worth looking into."

"Some things you can't run away from is that the (California Teachers Association) is one of the most powerful interests in the state, and Tim has been part of their leadership for many years," Baker said. The union "has opposed every major education reform in California, and this district cares a lot about education."

Primary loss

Glazer, a moderate longtime political consultant for Gov. Jerry Brown, initially appeared to have a good shot of qualifying for the general election, capitalizing on voter anger over a pair of BART strikes in 2013 by calling for a ban on walkouts by public transit workers. His main competition at first was Sbranti, who had the robust backing of labor.

But Republican state Chairman Jim Brulte threw the party's support behind Baker, and in the final weeks of the campaign, Munger's Spirit of Democracy joined the campaign, sending out at least five mailers attacking Glazer.

Baker is now thought to be one of the few Republicans in the Bay Area with a shot at winning an election in November. The 16th District is Democratic but not overwhelmingly so, with 40 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 33 percent as Republican and 21 percent decline to state.

Glazer has not endorsed anyone in the general election.

Unprecedented effort

California consultants say it's unprecedented for an independent expenditure group to attack a candidate during the primary, then turn around and use that same candidate's loss to attack another during the general election.

"What (Munger) is trying to do is get the small number of Glazer supporters" to back the Republican in the race, Maviglio said.

But he said, "This is one of the highest-educated Assembly districts in the state, and they have a strong track record of voting for progressive Democrats. They're probably going to throw a lot at it, but these are smart voters. They didn't like the negative attacks (in the primary), and this will backfire."